Red Bay, Al: Get-A-Long-Little-Dogie

The song made famous by the words 'Get a long little dogie" supposedly was a favorite of grizzled cowboys who drove cattle from Texas to the rail yards in Kansas City. Turns out the cowboys took the song literally and, went they got to town, they went out a bought 'a long little dogie or dachshund.

Everywhere we go people who see Dobbie, our miniature dachshund, respond to their friends/themselves "Oh look, a wiener dog". Not the most complimentary comment and Dobbie's self confidence most likely suffers greatly from the 'wiener dog' label. I am going to teach her to walk on her hind legs so then people might say "Hey look at the tall skinny dog". Not there yet but it's early in her training. I know she'll rise to the occasion, so to speak....

Had the RV at the service bay at 7 am this morning. Our normal process of exploring the area is affected by the 'no dogs can be left in the RV while being serviced" rule. So today we,MLA, Dobbie & I explored some park areas, including the 5-6 dams/locks that enable boaters to travel all the way from the Tennessee river to the Gulf of Mexico.

Two of the lakes allow homes right on the shores of the lakes. Normally Corps of Engineer lakes have a large buffer that keeps homes a significant distance from the lake itself, enough so that a landowner would not be able to say they had waterfront property. However at these two lakes there are some very nice homes right on the water with their own docks and boathouses.

Since we had the dog with us we spent some time at the COE's boat launch, enjoying the water, the tree's and especially the shade. Large cool, inky circles of darkness provided the only respite from a sweltering sun. Typical Alabama/Mississippi summer.

We had some work done on the runway at Tiffin to have covers installed over the vents. These allow you to open the vents, even when it's raining. Previously you had to close the fan vents in the ceiling when it rained, the very time you wanted some fresh air.

Hopefully another day in the service bay and then we'll be waiting for a paint booth to fix a minor, self-inflicted scratch. Oh, and the new 09 models have a ceiling fan in the bedroom. That's something I wanted originally and it was not available. I'll probably get it installed here if the price is not too exorbitant.

One issue I have is we are driving this beast down the road and when you need to hit the horn it sounds like an old VW bug. It needs a real air horn. Unfortunately the estimate I received for installing one here is too steep however I'll keep working. I know I'll find something somewhere sometime.

Until later - See Ya!